


Parallels Between Moriarty and the Cabbie from ASiP, and Their Long-Reaching Effects

by wellthengameover



Series: Sherlock Meta [10]
Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Analysis, Character Analysis, Episode: s01e01 A Study in Pink, Episode: s02e03 The Reichenbach Fall, Meta, Other, Season/Series 05, Sherlock Meta, Symbolism, TJLC | The Johnlock Conspiracy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-17
Updated: 2015-11-17
Packaged: 2018-05-02 01:26:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,511
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5228603
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wellthengameover/pseuds/wellthengameover
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>John shooting the cabbie is pretty much the most important thing ever.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Parallels Between Moriarty and the Cabbie from ASiP, and Their Long-Reaching Effects

Because ASiP is the first episode, it sort of sets the stage for the tone and themes, and because the cabbie is the first criminal - and because he’s controlled by Jim - the cabbie is similar to Jim in a lot of ways.

The most obvious connection is that both TRF and ASiP are suicides:

> JEFF: I don’t wanna kill you, Mr. ’olmes. I’m gonna talk to yer … and then you’re gonna kill yourself. ([x](http://arianedevere.livejournal.com/43794.html))

Well, that’s pretty much exactly what Jim does in TRF:

The cabbie also sets up the two geniuses battling theme:

> JEFF: You are brilliant. **You _are_. A proper genius.** “The Science of Deduction.” Now that is _proper_ thinking. Between you and me sitting ’ere, why can’t people think?Don’t it make you mad? Why can’t people just _think_?  
>  SHERLOCK: Oh, _I_ see. So **you’re a proper genius _too_**. ([x](http://arianedevere.livejournal.com/43794.html))

The cabbie sets up the idea of the game:

> JEFF: Wouldn’t be a game if _you_ knew.  
> 
> 
> JEFF: I want your best game.  
> SHERLOCK: It’s not a _game_. It’s _chance_.  
>  JEFF: I’ve played four times. I’m alive. **It’s not chance, Mr. ’olmes, it’s chess.** It’s a game of chess, with one move, and one survivor. And this … _this_ … is the move.
> 
> JEFF: You ready yet, Mr. ’olmes? Ready to play?  
> SHERLOCK: Play _what_? It’s a fifty-fifty chance.  
>  JEFF: **You’re not playin’ the numbers, you’re playin’ _me_.**
> 
> JEFF: Time to play.  
> SHERLOCK: Oh, I _am_ playing. This is _my_ turn.
> 
> JEFF: Which one would you ’ave picked, just so I know whether I could have beaten you?Come on. Play the game. ([x](http://arianedevere.livejournal.com/43794.html))

These two lines are particularly interesting because they are so very Jim. What Jim does best is manipulate other people; he arranges things so that other people can only make moves that benefit him. The cabbie mentions that, too:

> JEFF: I know ’ow people think.I know ’ow people think _I_ think. ([x](http://arianedevere.livejournal.com/43794.html))

The cabbie references Jim several times in ASiP by calling Jim Sherlock’s fan:

> JEFF: You’ve got yourself a fan.
> 
> JEFF: Sherlock ’olmes. Look at you! ’Ere in the flesh. That website of yours: your fan told me about it.  
> SHERLOCK: My _fan_?
> 
> SHERLOCK: Who’d sponsor a serial killer?  
> JEFF: Who’d be a fan of Sherlock ’olmes?
> 
> SHERLOCK: Okay, tell me this: your sponsor. Who was it? The one who told you about me – my ‘fan.’ I want a name. ([x](http://arianedevere.livejournal.com/43794.html))

So Jim has definitely been set up as Sherlock’s fan, and then we have a very memorable line in TRF about Sherlock’s fans:

> SHERLOCK: There are two types of fans.  
>  KITTY: Oh?  
>  SHERLOCK: **“Catch me before I kill again”** – Type A …  
>  KITTY: Uh-huh. What’s Type B?  
>  SHERLOCK: **“Your bedroom’s just a taxi ride away.”**  
>  KITTY: Guess which one I am.  
>  SHERLOCK: Neither. ([x](http://arianedevere.livejournal.com/31651.html))

Kitty is close to Jim throughout Reichenbach, and she doesn’t fit into either type of fan. Neither does Jim because he’s _both._

I’m not saying Jim is secretly a nice person who wants Sherlock to catch him before he hurts any more people, but Jim does want Sherlock to catch up to him: playing the game isn’t fun if there’s no challenge.

> SHERLOCK: No – I think he’s _brilliant_ enough. I love the brilliant ones. **They’re always so desperate to get caught.**  
>  JOHN: Why?  
> SHERLOCK: Appreciation! Applause! At long last the spotlight. That’s the frailty of genius, John: it needs an audience. ([x](http://arianedevere.livejournal.com/43794.html))

Here, Sherlock is talking about the cabbie, who we know worked for Jim. Really, the narrative is telling us about both Sherlock and Jim.

To really hit home the theme of the cabbie mirroring Jim, Jim literally is a cabbie at one point:

And Sherlock doesn’t notice him because:

> JEFF: See? No-one ever thinks about the cabbie. It’s like you’re invisible. Just the back of an ’ead. Proper advantage for a serial killer. ([x](http://arianedevere.livejournal.com/43794.html))

I’m pretty  sure we’ll be returning to the “It’s not chance; it’s chess” theme because that’s exactly what Jim’s been doing this whole time. All the “coincidences” - that [Mycroft gives Sherlock the Bruce Partington Plans with “just happen” to be the fifth pip](http://wellthengameover.tumblr.com/post/98950214132/jim-not-mycroft-texts-sherlock-and-john-in-tgg), that Irene’s photos “just happen” to lead to the Bond Air plot, that [Mary “just happens” to be in CAM’s office at the same time as Sherlock](http://wellthengameover.tumblr.com/post/101775029347/mary-didnt-go-to-cams-office-to-kill-sherlock) \- aren’t coincidences at all; they’re Jim manipulating the board and everyone on it. At first glance, it looks like chance that all these things occur, but it’s not: it’s chess.

John shooting the cabbie (and Jim not realizing it) is pretty much the most important thing ever. 

Jim wants to find out how Sherlock thinks: if he figures it out and picks the good pill, he’s interesting and Jim wants to play. If he picks the bad pill, then he wasn’t interesting and Jim doesn’t care that he’s dead. 

**Jim set this situation up to have only two possible outcomes: good pill or bad pill. But something _completely unexpected_ to Jim happened: nobody picked any pills and the cabbie was shot. **This just makes Sherlock eight times as desirable because _he did something Jim didn’t expect._

And **the unexpected thing was John**. AKA: Jim doesn’t understand how much Sherlock and John love each other.

Jim sets up “Either this or that” situations: either you jump off the roof, or your friends die. I think in 5x3, Jim will have some situation where Sherlock can only solve the case if his heart is burnt out. That way, Jim will _know_ if Sherlock’s heart is burnt out: if Sherlock solves the case, Jim’s plan worked and Sherlock’s heart is burnt out; if he doesn’t solve it, Jim’s plan didn’t work and Sherlock’s heart is not burnt out. Solving the case is the proof that Sherlock’s heart is burnt out. Only two options.

[But John is going to kick down the door at the last second with a third option that Jim never anticipated, just as he does in ASiP. So Sherlock will be able to solve the case, not - as Jim believes and has set up - because his heart is burnt out, but via The Power of True Love.](http://wellthengameover.tumblr.com/post/101803266037/i-know-you-for-real-a-preview-of-the-johnlock)

I’m believe that in the season five finale, Jim will set things up so that Sherlock thinks he starts _missing cases_ ** _because of sentiment_.** Isn’t that basically the ultimate “John or James” question? It’s pretty much the point of the show, and it’s a stronger version of [what Jim set up with Irene](http://wellthengameover.tumblr.com/post/111400354387/the-joy-of-redemption), which was his trial run of [The Final Problem](http://wellthengameover.tumblr.com/post/105279839079/the-final-problem). Sherlock will think he can’t solve cases anymore because he loves John. And to complicate matters, Sherlock believes John only loves him for the danger/excitement, so if he _can’t solve the cases, John will leave._ But John’s the reason he’s missing cases in the first place!

_This_ would be a great plan to [burn Sherlock’s heart out - because Sherlock does it to _himself:_ rejects sentiment, chooses to feel nothing over being in love with John and John being in love with him, that’s what Jim wants](http://wellthengameover.tumblr.com/post/100624299225/sherlocks-heart-hasnt-been-burnt-out-yet) \- and [_t_ _his_ is also the moment – by far the best moment – for Sherlock and John to finally kiss](http://wellthengameover.tumblr.com/post/101803266037/i-know-you-for-real-a-preview-of-the-johnlock).

So in the season five finale, Sherlock thinks he’s has lost his deductive powers because of sentiment, but John tells him he still believes in him - like in [this scene in TRF](http://wellthengameover.tumblr.com/post/101803266037/i-know-you-for-real-a-preview-of-the-johnlock) \- and then takes it the final step: “You’re still that clever. But even if you never solved another case again, it wouldn’t matter; I’d still love you.”

Jim thinks:

  1. John only loves Sherlock because he’s clever/danger aspect - the reasons why Jim likes Sherlock, so why would anyone love him for anything else? - so John won’t say this
  2. If John does say this, [Sherlock will reject sentiment like he did with Irene](http://wellthengameover.tumblr.com/post/105279839079/the-final-problem)
  3. If John does say this and Sherlock doesn’t reject, Jim will know because then Sherlock can’t solve the case 



**What Jim _doesn’t_ think will happen is that Sherlock will get both sentiment (in love with John) _and_ be able to solve the case** \- in fact, be able to solve it _because_ of sentiment for John. 

**Symbolically, Sherlock getting both sentiment (in love with John) _and_ being able to solve the case is exactly what happens in ASiP:**

  * **good pill = not getting your heart burnt out and not solving the case**
  * **bad pill = getting your heart burnt out and solving the case**
  * **John shooting the cabbie = not getting your heart burnt out and solving the case**



Sherlock doesn’t actually solve the case with the cabbie - metaphorically because he and John aren’t together/haven’t talked about their feelings. The “good pill vs. bad pill” AKA “sentiment vs. heart burnt out” AKA “John or James” question is still up in the air. Once they talk about their feelings, John won’t have to “break in” (as he does with shooting from a different building) because the locked room is no longer locked, and they can work together and actually solve the case.

Sherlock solves [the](http://wellthengameover.tumblr.com/post/114794829982/if-you-recall-the-very-beginning-of-tgg-theres-a) [case](http://wellthengameover.tumblr.com/post/108366970397/i-can-understand-that-the-empty-house-style) in 5x3 (the proof, Jim thinks, that his heart is burnt out) but nope! [Option three occurred](http://wellthengameover.tumblr.com/post/101803266037/i-know-you-for-real-a-preview-of-the-johnlock) and everyone lives happily ever after.

**Author's Note:**

> Transcribed from [my meta blog on tumblr](http://wellthengameover.tumblr.com/my-sherlock-meta). Much more there.


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